I've Come Along Way
by firestarterxjonas
Summary: Demi comes home from University for christmas and expects the time she's home to be relaxing, just hanging out with friends but when her dad brings home one of his work colleagues, her christmas holiday plans might be change. M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I was driving back from the airport after landing back in Georgia, I had just finished my first year at Juilliard University and was now on my way to my home town in Georgia, it was a small town where everyone knew everyone. I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel as I waited in the afternoon traffic. It was a friday and of course everyone wanted to get back home to their loved ones, christmas was next week and people were rushing back to prepare every last detail. I personally had no special plans for christmas. I was single, 19 and just excited to get home and see my family. I had lived in a dorm at the university for a month and it was terrible, the beds were like concrete and the rooms where tiny, about half the size of my room at home, there was a little kitchenette, equipped with a fridge, microwave and sink, in the hallway and everyone shared a bathroom. After the first month of living in the dorms I decided to get an apartment so now I lived in an apartment in New York a few minutes away from campus and it was great, but I did really miss my old room and all the memories that were inside it.

The traffic finally started moving and I drove off down the long winding road that was just an hour away from my home town. I hadn't been back in town since Easter, I missed my parents and little sister Maddison more than anything. My mother, Dianna, was a psychologist, majoring in relationships and addiction. My step-father Eddie, was a police officer, they had completely different jobs but they were completely compatible and in love with each other. Madison was 11, going on 17. She has started wearing make up and dressing in more relieving clothes. I don't understand how my parents are letting her act like that but I guess its because she's their child together and i'm just some bastard child from my mums first boyfriend.

An hour later I parked in front of my childhood house. I sighed and looked up, turning off the engine and stepping out, grabbing my suitcase out the boot before locking up the car and dragging my bag toward the front door, I knocked, placing my bag at my feet waiting for the huge red door to open.

"DEMI!" I heard Madison scream from the other side of the door.

I smiled as I saw the door swing open and my little sister run towards me.

"Hey Mads, I missed you" I smiled, hugging her tightly.

"I missed you too!" She squealed.

I pulled away from Madison to see my mother walking towards me.

"Demetria, i've missed you so much. I'm so happy you decided to come home for christmas" she smiled, pulling me into a hug.

"Im happy I decided too as well, Ma. I missed everyone so much" I said, pulling away from the hug and walking inside with my bags in tow. My house wasn't a huge mansion, it was just the right size for all of us with a huge living room and a 'man cave' downstairs in the basement. I told my mum that i'd take my stuff up to room. I walked into my bedroom and sighed as the familiar room came into my view. My bedroom was equipped with a ensuite bathroom which was bigger than the one in my apartment, but only by a little. My room was covered in photos of my best friend Selena and I, along with a few band posters. It was painted blue with a black feature wall. My big collection of books were scattered on shelves around the room like I had just flung them their yesterday. Some of my old clothes were in a pile on top of my bed, my notepad was open on my desk. It was almost like I had been living here for the past year not at the university. I put my bags on my bed next to the pile of clothes and began to unpack, I chucked all myself laundry into a pile in the corner of the room near the door and hung up the very little clean clothes in my wardrobe. I unpacked everything in my suitcase and pulled it into the closet.

"Demi! Your father's home and he has company!" my mother shouted up the stairs.

I sighed, putting my hair up in a messy ponytail, kicking my shoes off at the same time before walking downstairs to see my step father. I walked into the living room where I heard the voice of someone I didn't recognise, a male voice. My face scrunched in confusion as I saw a man, who must be about 3 years older than me, 22, standing next to my step father in a police uniform. Dad brought a colleague home?

"Demetria, its so good to see you again, I missed you" Eddie said as he hugged me.

"I missed you too Dad" I smiled, hugging back. I had missed him, even though he wasn't my biological father, I considered Eddie pretty much my real one. He had raised me since I was 5 years old. We pulled away from each other and Eddie turned towards the unfamiliar man that he had brought home with him.

"Demi, this is Joe. He works with me" he introduced the man before turning towards me.

I walked to Joe and held my hand out "Its nice to meet you, Joe"

"Its nice to meet you too, Demi. I've heard a lot about you." he smirked and shook my hand. I looked him over subtly and I have to admit, he looks hot in that police uniform. His hair was a dark brown, almost black colour, that was short and a little spiked up. His jaw was covered in a little bit of facial hair, he had a slight tan and even though he wasn't that tall, he was still taller than me.

He must have noticed me checking him out because the smirk on his face grew a little bigger. My family was oblivious to the exchange and my mother continued to ask Joe what it was like for him to work as a police officer.

Joe stayed for dinner and I didn't get to talk to him much if at all. My parents and Madison kept asking him questions like if he was single, where he lives, where he's from. My mother gave me a nudge when he admitted that he was in fact single and that he lived just a few blocks away. I rolled my eyes at mothers shitty attempt to make the action subtle. Joe looked at me as she did it and chuckled under his breath.

"Where do you go to school, Demi?" Joe questioned, shovelling a huge fork full of pasta in his mouth.

"Juilliard" I smiled, I was still over the moon that I was accepted into Harvard even though I had been there for a year already. I was ecstatic when I received my acceptance letter, I had been accepted into one of the most prestige music universities in the country. It hadn't be hard to decided which university I was going to go too. Who in their right mind would turn down Juilliard?

Joe's face looked a little shocked when he registered what I had answered "Oh, wow" he muttered "thats amazing, is it as great as everyone says it is?" asked.

"Its incredible" I gushed, putting my knife and fork down on my plate. "The lectures are so smart and the campus is beautiful. The dorms weren't that great though so I moved to an apartment."

"It sounds great" he smiled "I wanted to go to university but I changed my plans. I decided to become a police officer. What are you studying at Juilliard?"

"Music, Guitar and Piano" I smiled, music had always been my main passion since I was little. I loved to sing and play piano and guitar.

"Thats awesome" he smiled "I play too"

For the rest of the night, Joe and I talked about music and what it was like for me at Juilliard. I ended up really liking him and hoping we could be friends.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"You need to get a job while you are here Demetria, I'm not giving you money whenever you want it. You have to learn to look after yourself" I sat down in the kitchen listening to my mother going on about how I have to look after myself. I roll my eyes, earning a slap on my hand from my mother.

"Do not roll your eyes at me young lady!" she screamed.

"Mum! I've been looking after myself for a year! This talk is useless!" I yelled back. "I have a job back in New York! I don't need to get a job here because I have enough money to last me this break, its not like theres much to do here in Bowman, mum.. this town is boring" I stood up, letting her know that this was the end of conversation and walked away.

I grabbed my car keys from the table beside the door, picked up my bag before walking out to my car and getting in. I drove to the tiny mall that was in the centre of the town, it wasn't much but at least it was something, it even had a little movie theatre at the top. The mall was about 10 minutes away from my house, once I parked, I grabbed my things and got out, locking the car behind me.

I walked inside, the cold air hitting me and making me shiver slightly, it was cold enough outside, why did they need the air conditioning on?

The mall was buzzing with people going from store to store, most of them carrying a few bags each, of course this was because it was christmas time. The christmas shopping hours had began and everyone was cramming in as many hours as they can of shopping into their already busy lives. I guess I should start my christmas shopping, I didn't have much to get, just the usual, Mum, Dad, Maddie and my best friend Selena. I walked around for a while looking in a store every now and then, I still hadn't brought anything. I had no idea what to get Maddie, she was 12, what do you buy 12 year olds?

Just then I saw a jewellery store and walked in, I looked around at all the necklaces and finally found the most gorgeous heart pendant, this would be the perfect present for my mum. I smiled, looking up for an sales person to walk my way after serving the other not so patient customers.

"Hi, how may I help you?" a short petite sales assistant asks in a annoyed voice, she obviously wants to leave.

I smiled at her "Can I have a look at that heart pendant, please?" I ask, pointing to it through the glass.

"Of course you can, miss" she replied, bringing the pendant out of the display case and placing it on top of the glass.

"Wow, its beautiful… how much is it?" I pray its in my price range.

"$300" the lady replies.

_Holy shit_, thats nearly all of my savings. I sigh, deciding that i'll have to find something else for my mum.

"Oh, okay.. thank you" I reply, turning around and walking out of the store and coming into contact with a muscular chest "Oh my gosh, i'm s-so sorry!" I stutter, looking up at the man I had just bumped into.

"It's okay Demi. I'm not hurt" he chuckled, and thats when I recognised him. It was Joe.

"Oh, Hey Joe" I smiled, brushing some loose hair out of my face. "What are you doing here?" I checked him out quickly, noticing he wasn't in uniform.

"Just doing some christmas shopping" he replied "What about you? are you busy?"

"Same reason. Not really, I was about to go get some food. Do you want to join me?" I asked him, I could use some company.

"I'd love to" he replied, walking along side me as I walked to the food court.

We both ordered our food and then sat down near McDonalds. I looked over a Joe and he was wearing a simple green t-shirt and a pair of worn out looking jeans, his hair was spiked up and a little messy like he had just gotten out of bed, but he still looked good.

I took a sip of my lemonade before speaking "So who are you shopping for? Anyone special?"

"Not unless you count my parents and brothers special" he chuckled, shoving a few fries into his mouth. So he didn't have a girlfriend, that was good news for me.

"You have brothers? How many?" I questioned, I really wanted to get to know Joe, he seemed different, not like any of the guys I knew from Juilliard or any of the other guys that I had met while staying in New York.

"I have three, Kevin who is 24, Nick who is 20 and Frankie who is 12" he listed.

"Wow, I only have Madison, she's the same age as your brother Frankie. Maybe they know each other or something." I commented, picking at my food.

"So what about you? Shopping for anyone special?" It was Joe's turn to ask me that now.

"Just my family and best friend, Selena" I mumbled back, taking a bite of my burger.

Joe nodded and took a bite of his own burger "Whats it like living in New York, the city that never sleeps?"

"It's incredible" I gushed, I really did love it there. "Theres so much to do and the whole city has so much life, you never know whats around the next corner. The people there are amazing and so interesting and I really do love living there. I live in an apartment just a few minutes from Juilliard and even though its not a huge apartment, I love it. Its perfect for me and the people in my building are really really nice. I love living in New York and I feel like its my home now. I miss it".

"Wow.. It sounds amazing. I wish I had a chance to visit or even just go there for a holiday for a few weeks, but I never have the time" Joe sighed.

"You should come next time you have a chance, I mean you could always stay with me if you don't have a place to crash. I have enough room in my apartment for two people" I suggested as if it was nothing. "So tell me about yourself Joe"

He chucked and took a few more bites of his burger before continuing "My full name is Joseph Adam Jonas, I'm 22 and I work for the Bowman police force with your dad, as you know. I have 3 brothers as I told you just before, I have a bulldog called Winston, I love food and my favourite colour is blue. Now tell me a bit about you"

"Well.." I pondered "My full name is Demetria Devonne Lovato, I'm 19, I have a younger sister Madison, who you met yesterday at dinner. Im a full time student at Juilliard, I don't have any pets unfortunately but i love dogs. My favourite colours are purple and black and I love food too" I laughed at the last comment.

An hour later, Joe and I were still sitting at the table in the food court, laughing so hard that people walking past were looking at us like we were crazy. We had found out that we both had SO much in common with each other, he liked all the same old school music; the Beatles and ACDC mostly. None of my friends back at Juilliard had liked the old school stuff, so I was shocked when Joe had said he had.

Joe surprised me, I had never met anyone like him before and to be honest, that scared me. I hadn't had a serious relationship since high school. Juilliard was more focused on the learning, the music. But there had been a few hook ups while I was there, I had hooked up with one of my friends on campus, her name was Kate. It happened after we both got a little bit drunk and decided to experiment and the other time it was with one of the guys from my piano class.

"Demi?" Joe's voice brought me out of my thoughts, I blushed as a amused smirk covered his face "Am I boring you?" he questioned.

"No" I replied, I could feel my face turning red "I just got lost in my thoughts. I'm sorry"

"I asked you if you wanted to go out with me tonight. Maybe go to the movies?" he smiled.

"I'd love to go out with you" I smiled, biting the bottom of my lip. He had asked me on a date, today just got a whole lot better.

"Great, I'll pick you up at 7" he promised, standing up, throwing the rubbish in the bin "I have to go finish this shopping, so I'll see you tonight Demi" he waved at me before walking off.

I had a date, my first date since high school, with _Joe_ _Jonas_, police officer and _colleague of my fathers_.

I stood up and walked towards some of the clothing stores, I had to look good for this date so I needed a new dress. I walked into a store called **_Princess Polly_**. I walked around, looking at all the pretty casual dresses before finding the right one. It was red, knee length with a triangle cut out on the back of the dress, and it had thin straps to hold it up. I picked up my size and walked to the changing rooms at the back of the store.

I closed the curtain behind me and changed into the dress. I smiled at myself in the mirror. This was _definitely_ the dress I was going to wear tonight.

* * *

It was currently 6:30pm and I was standing in front of my mirror in the bathroom. I smiled at my reflection, I had just finished my make up and I was now onto straightening my hair. Once I was done, I checked the time again 6:50pm.

My make up was light, I was wearing a natural eyeshadow, a thin line of eyeliner and mascara but then my lips were a dark red to match my dress and my black hair hung just below my shoulders. I thought I looked good. I walked into my room, sitting on my bed, putting my heels on before checking if I had everything I needed in my clutch.

I heard a knock at the front door and my mother answer it "DEMI! Joe's here!" she screamed.

I smiled, checking myself in the mirror and walking downstairs. Joe was waiting by the door, he was dressed in black skinny Jeans and a white dress shirt that he had rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. He looked so sexy.

"Wow" he whispered to me once I reached him "You look beautiful Demi"

I felt my face heat up "Thank you. Lets go" I turned to my mother "Bye mum, i'll be home later" I said before walking out with Joe to his car. I was 19, so I didn't have a curfew.

"You look good too" I said to Joe as he walked me to his car.

"Thanks" he mumbled, opening the passenger side door for me before walking to his side and getting in.

The car ride to the movies was pretty quiet, except from the slight murmur of the radio.

Once we got to the movies, he parked before getting out and opening my door before I had the chance, I smiled at the small gesture "thank you" I said, taking the hand he held out for me and getting out the car. I shut my door behind me and walked into the movies with Joe.

"What movie do you want to see?" he asked, looking down at me, still holding my hand.

I glanced up at the big board in front of us, _The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Anchorman 2, Frozen_ and_ Carrie_ were playing tonight. I hated horror movies so Carrie was defiantly out of the question. Frozen was a kids movie and I had already seen Anchorman 2, so Catching Fire seemed to be the best choice. "Catching Fire, is that ok? I just hate horror movies and I've seen Anchorman 2.. and I don't think either of us want to see a kids movie" I laughed.

"It's perfect, I've wanted to see that movie for a while now" he said, moving forward to purchase our tickets, I offered to pay for my own, to be told that he was being a gentlemen and paying for us both since he had asked me out. Once we had our tickets, we went straight to the candy bar. We settled for a small bucket of popcorn and 2 medium cokes before Joe payed yet again and we walked into the movie theatre. I followed Joe, balancing my clutch under my arm as I held our popcorn and my drink, Joe looked at our tickets under the little light at the entrance of the room and then started walking up the steps right up to the back and in the corner, he waited for me at the end of the aisle, we were seated in the places couples would go just to make out. I laughed quietly to myself and walked past him before sitting in my seat and putting my drink in the holder and my popcorn on my lap along with my clutch. Joe sat next to me, putting his drink down and slipping the tickets into his pocket. I smiled at him, resulting in him smiling back. The commercials started and I felt Joe, reach over and grab my hand again, I bite my lip and intertwined my fingers with his before looking up at him. He was already looking at me, I noticed that his eyes were trailing over my body, the heat rose in my cheeks at this realisation. Joe leaned his head down to my ear and whispered "You look**_ really_** sexy in red"

The heat in my race rose again as I processed his words "Thanks" I whispered back nervously. The movie began and I leaned back in the chair, my hand still intertwined with Joe's. The movie was intense and I found myself inching closer and closer to Joe as it went on. Halfway through the movie, I felt Joe pull his hand away and put his arm around me and pull me closer to him. I put my head on his shoulder and continued watching the movie. I felt his eyes on me on and off the whole time, I looked up at him and caught him staring, I smiled and whispered "You paid to watch a movie, not me"

He chucked and leaned down to my ear again before whispering "I find you much more entertaining and beautiful". Did he have a thing for making me blush? I smiled and bit the inside of my lip as I looked up at him again, he was looking at me, his eyes were staring into mine, before flickering down to my lips. I let my eyes flicker towards his lips, letting him know that I wanted the same thing, he smiled and slowly leaned in, closing his eyes in the process. I did the same and our lips met in a slow kiss. I smiled against his lips as they moved in sync with each other. His lips were soft against mine and we kept it sweet and pulled away after a few minutes. I opened my eyes slowly and saw Joe do the same. "I was going to wait till I took you home but I couldn't wait any longer, you just look so beautiful" he admitted.

I giggled as I saw the red lipstick on his lips "Thats ok. I enjoyed it" I began "But red isn't the right colour for you" I said as I wiped the lipstick off his lips and face.

It was now his turn to blush "Thanks, that would have been embarrassing" he chuckled.

The lights turned on signalling that the movie was over. Joe stood up and took the empty cups in one hand and held my hand with his other while I carried the empty popcorn bucket and my clutch. We walked out of the movie hand in hand and put the rubbish into a bin before Joe lead me back to his car.

"I don't want to go home yet" I blurted out. I wanted to spend more time with him, talk to him, get to know him better and maybe kiss a little more.

He turned and smiled at me as he unlocked his car "Fancy going to the beach?" he questioned.

I nodded fiercely and climbed into his Range Rover. Once we had both buckled up and Joe had started his car, he grabbed my hand again and drove to the beach.

Once Joe parked at the beach he got out "come on Demi" he chucked as I got out.

"It's too dark!" I laughed as he grabbed my hand and started running down the beach.

I heard him laugh and I was suddenly pulled down on the sand, I felt him next to me, both of us just breathing heavily "Its too dark to just sit and talk" he commented.

"Thats true" I shrugged "So why the beach?"

"It relaxes me and I just love the smell of the ocean" Joe admitted.

"Thats why I love it too. Its so peaceful" I agreed.

We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each others company and the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

"Did you have fun tonight?" Joe's soft voice broke the silence.

"I had an amazing time" I smiled up at him through the darkness "I'm really glad that you asked me on a date"

"So am I" he smiled back, leaning down and giving me another kiss.

_This date really was the best thing that i've done in a while. _


End file.
